Michael Hibbard

Tag: the Waking Dream

Summer has come and as a result I’ve been busy. But fear not, I have been working on new material, including Book II, The Unkindness.

Today’s post is to remind everyone that there is an interim novella available on Kindle called Lost Haven. This story happens a few weeks after the Halloween events in Waking Dream: Devlin. The purpose of this novella was to give my readers a better understanding of my concept of Weirdness. There are several different forms displayed in this novella, hopefully enough to spur your own creative juices so you can help me build the world.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I created the Waking Dream universe so that others could add to it, long after I am gone — such as Lovecraft fans continue to create new stories around the Cthulhu mythos.

Lost Haven is a fast paced story about a mysterious group of individuals called The Order of Seers. It features several new characters as well as a couple of characters from the first book.

I had to throw my hat into the Zombie genre, just a tad, and give my take on the phenomenon. While the story is primarily dark fantasy, it does have horror elements. I try not to limit the story, because life nor the universe is limited. Anything can happen in the Waking Dream.

Soon, I will be releasing another novella, right before Book II. “Shadows on the Soul” completes my trilogy of terror and my homage to H.P. Lovecraft, which started with “The House of the Dead Timbers” and “The Case Study”. “Shadows on the Soul” will be available by the end of summer. Even though they are horror tales, they all related, in some way, to the Waking Dream. Can you find the connections?

I thank you all again for your wonderful support of my writing. I hope you enjoy it.

Over the past year I have been asked on several occasions by people if they could contribute fan fiction to my sites for the Waking Dream. This was my intention from the beginning.

I have 4 main blogs, two of which are set up for fan or flash fiction. The Way of the Weird (http://wayoftheweird.com) is a site that features information about the Waking Dream as researched by the character Justin, who suffers from multiple personality disorder. Though I have been recently remiss in contributing to the site, I intend on beginning this weekend with new content. Stories for the Way of the Weird are histories, folklore and current events in the Waking Dream Universe.

The second fiction blog I am just beginning which is Corridor 03 (http://corridor3.com). This is a mock psychiatric unit where the fiction will center around case studies and personal journals of patients, doctors and staff in the unit. Corridor 03 is a part of the psychiatric facility from Waking Dream: Devlin (Book 1). I am interested in anyone who would like to contribute as a patient, doctor or staff. The site will continue to grow, adding to Waking Dream Mythos, or as I call it, The Loethian Mythos.

Over the next month I will be putting up a series of posts explaining the Loethian Mythos which will serve as the framework for others to contribute. One can learn a great deal by all the content on Way of the Weird, as well as reading the books I’ve published to date.

If you are interested in writing for Way of the Weird, please send an email to weird@wakingdreamonline.com. If you are interested in writing for Corridor 03, please use the contact form on the Administration page.

I have not forgotten about the rest of the story I started, however, lately I have been working on several different projects that have been coordinating. But, things are moving along nicely.

Before I get into today’s post I did want to mention that there are several things coming out over the next few months that may be of interest to you:

1) The Little Book of Dreams: This is the bible or Necronomicon for the Waking Dream. It is a major expansion on material that I have already published on The Way of the Weird. I feel its time that you should know more about the Waking Dream.

2) Getting to Devlin: This is a Waking Dream Young Adult novel, with events leading up to the first novel, Waking Dream: Devlin. This is a collaborative work.

3) Super Secret Project: I am collaborating with others on a series and though it is not a Waking Dream novel, it will have elements of the Waking Dream woven within. I will have more information on this in the coming months. I am very excited about the project.

4) Waking Dream: The Unkindness: I have been working diligently on this book, however, I feel I want to take my time until others are more familiar with the series. Fear not, it is coming, and you won’t see it coming.

5) Shadow of the Soul: This is another Lovecraftian piece I am working on for exclusive publication on Kindle and it will be finished by mid summer.

I thank you all for your continued support! Now, my top 13 books to dream by. These books were major inspiration to my writing, and I feel everyone interested in my work would find these books equally inspiring:

I mention these particular books because they were instrumental in helping me formulate my ideas about life, spirituality and the universe. All of these I have read numerous times, and each time, I find something new and noteworthy as a read. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Mark Meier, a fellow writer, asked me to join a blog tour last week. I am very grateful to be recognized by my colleagues and be asked to join in the fun!

Before I answer the questions for the tour, I’d like to introduce another blogger/writer with amazing insight and ability, Victoria Craven. Victoria runs the blog, The Autodidact in the Attic, which focuses on the macabre, horror and a wide variety of intellectual stimulus. Here is her bio:

V.L. Craven lives with her husband and pets. She writes fiction—both short and long—and reviews of books, films & art, as well as essays, articles and interviews with all sorts of interesting people.

She’s always appreciated the darker side of life, which is the focus of her blog The Autodidact in the Attic, (see also its Facebook page). TAitA has reviews of books, films, art, apps and games (and interviews with creators of those things) that will appeal to people with an interest in the macabre or gothic.

She will be posting her answers to the blog tour questions next Monday, so do yourself a favor and check out her amazing site.

Now on to my answers:

1) What am I working on?

I am always working on a variety of projects simultaneously, that’s just how my brain works. Right now, I am doing a serial short story on this blog, writing Book II in the Waking Dream Series — The Unkindness — and I am involved in a collaborative series with two other authors (details to come later this year). My Waking Dream Series is the primary focus and I am always doing research as the it covers alternate history, philosophy, and science.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I write novels and short stories. My short stories tend to be very dark. My favorite short stories are the ones I write in Lovecraftian style. I am no Lovecraft, mind you, however I have enormous respect for his creations and imagination.

The Waking Dream series is really a mixture of many genres, so it is very hard to put it in any one box — I am not a fan of being pigeonholed. The Waking Dream Series is an attempt to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Much of the subject matter is based on years of research. I have always been fascinated with the paranormal and the supernatural — specifically the potential of the human mind. The Waking Dream is my attempt to present a plausible framework for readers to suspend their disbelief and explore their own lives. Life is a dream, if you really think about it. We always have control over how our lives go, no matter the situation. And once you believe that, you can do anything.

The Waking Dream series has elements of horror, paranormal, supernatural, romance, dystopia, apocalyptic events and fantasy. It is very dark. One of my fans put it, “It’s the Matrix meets The Stand”. The first book is my Fellowship of the Ring. It is the twilight before the sun sets on our world. The subsequent books will descend further into the darkness of reality and the human mind.

One final note, there are many things hidden within the stories and novels, tying them together as well as giving avid readers something to discover within the text. Everything in the Waking Dream Series is carefully calculated. What have you found hidden within the story?

3) Why do I write what I do?

I love to create worlds. The Waking Dream is, as I mentioned, an attempt to impart all I’ve learned about the human condition and get the reader to explore and create their own dream. The world seems to be at an impasse, and we are not moving forward as we should from a philosophical sense. While the Waking Dream is fiction, there are elements of truth in ever sentence I write — the things I believe to be true.

I write the Lovecraftian stories because I want his legacy to continue, as well as many other authors. Being able to create a story that emulates the master gives me a sense of humility. Many writers have walked in his footsteps, but his personal commitment to his craft is something to be admired, respected and remembered for all time.

4) How does my writing process work?

I don’t have a specific process for writing. When I feel like writing, I write. And because I have a wide variety of projects I am working on at any given time, I choose the project to work on that most suits my particular mood. I believe that an author needs to be prolific to be successful. Very few authors become successful with one book, or even their first book. The more work you have out, you have a better chance of being discovered by new readers. It is a snowball effect.

One thing I do tend to stick to in any project is that I usually begin with an illustration. Next to writing, illustrating is one of my favorite hobbies. I have over 50 illustrations for the Waking Dream, as well as maps. I want the Waking Dream to be similar to the Cthulhu Mythos so that other authors can contribute their own stories to the ever-growing Waking Dream Universe.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this little excursion into my writing career. Perhaps you’ll be interested in reading my work, which is listed on the right side bar. Please be sure to check out Victoria Craven’s answers next Monday on her blog.

I wanted to take a moment and talk a bit about who I am and what I write. I’ve gained quite a few new followers so I though it was time that I gave you a little more insight into me, what I write, and what inspires me to continue.

I am laying it all out there, because I am a communicator, well, online that is. In real life, I’m a bit of a recluse, and am not really good in social situations, which I am working on.

Who were my inspirations?

I’ve been an avid reader since I was really young. The first adult book I read was “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. I’ve always loved the supernatural, so I continued with other authors such as Poe, Lovecraft, King, Bradbury, F. Paul Wilson and many others. Oddly, my two biggest influences were Lovecraft and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Lovecraft is an inspiration because he loved description, words and his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Fitzgerald is an inspiration for his writing style, his ability to expose the dark underbelly of our society, and for giving us my favorite book, The Great Gatsby.

The Waking Dream is not all that I write, but it is a huge focus on my career because it spans so many genres and deals with many social issues, both for adults and young adults. I love to write horror, especially Lovecraftian Horror, because I do love a good scary tale, and it seems that there are not enough new ideas coming out. I have not been scared by anything that has come out lately. I abhor slasher type books, because the news does a pretty good job of covering that genre. It’s all too real and close to home.

The inspiration for the Waking Dream truly came from my personal quest to understand the nature of reality. I am inspired by a variety of things: the change of seasons, weird happenings, interactions between people, philosophy, religion, science and the paranormal.

When Did I Start Writing?

I really started writing stories when I was 12. I was attending a Catholic School in Woodbury, New Jersey. It was very old, and the basement was very creepy. I wrote a screen play about dark rituals happening in the basement at night. My teacher at the time, Mr. DuBois, fully supported me filming it and got permission for me to do so. Unfortunately, before we could do the film, my parents moved to Pennsylvania.

I was an avid Role-Player, and I’ve played just about every table-top game there is, and I enjoyed being the storyteller more than the player. I would write very involved campaigns, which were essentially interactive stories. Then when I got on the internet, I went crazy in the chat rooms with story lines, and had three channels devoted to different settings. Castle Nightshade was a high fantasy storyline set in a world I created with over 100 people playing at any given time. Night City was a vampire based storyline with many of the same people playing back and forth. And then finally, The Waking Dream which only had 12 players as a private group.

My first novel, which was published by Phantasm Books, is my crowning achievement as an author. I was very pleased to have my book recognized so quickly without having been published anywhere before. Waking Dream: Devlin is just the first of many to come. I enjoyed writing it, hated the editing process, and have stressed the promotion. But in the end, I am happy with what I have produced.

I do get a lot of people who are very confused about the subject matter contained in the Waking Dream. I have many journals with all of the particulars about the Waking Dream Universe, because it is quite expansive. I am trying to create a world that is wholly unique, but emulates Cthulhu Mythos, or Frank Herbert’s Dune.

I am fascinated with the universe. I rarely watch any non-science shows, because I want to understand the nature of reality. So, I started the Waking Dream as a synthesis of all the concepts I feel to be true about our universe. If the universe were just a dream we should be able to control it. It’s just a matter of learning how to. We are all children, no matter how old we get. But, we tend to start to disbelieve that we have the power to change it. We get wrapped up in politics, our daily jobs, acquiring things, and we stop believing that life really is very magical. The fact that we exist at all is magical in of itself.

The Waking Dream is targeted to people who want to believe and it is appropriate for young adults, as well as adults. I explore social issues, so there is a lot of allegory in the novel. I also explore topics that plague our children today, such as coming of age, self-mutilation, poor self-esteem, dealing with loss, and how to fit in. On the social level, I address self-sustaining communities, religion, reincarnation, the degradation of society, politics, and the struggle between good vs. evil.

What Do I Do for My Day Job?

Currently, I am a data analyst, and I do enjoy it, because it has helped my ability to market my book, and self-promote. It all comes down to numbers. But, on the side, I am a programmer and I can program in 11 different computer languages. All of it self-taught, as I am a true autodidact. Structured learning is not my thing. I tend to learn better when I can move at my own pace.

However, I did not start out in this field. I have had many many different jobs in my 43 years. Here are the ones I can remember:

All of the jobs I’ve had contributed to my experience as a writer. I have learned something valuable from each of them, though I wasn’t necessarily happy in each job. Working at a toy store during Christmas was an absolute nightmare!

What Are My Hobbies?

I am a firm believer in the saying “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”. Those of you who frequent my blog know that I try to post at least once a day. But I also have my facebook pages, my four secret twitter accounts, and my main @arkangyl account. So I do love social media. But my other hobbies include:

Drawing/Illustration (I have designed all but one of my book covers), Guitar, Drums, Music in general, Cooking, Console and PC Gaming, Role-playing, Poetry, Reading, Philosophy, Quantum Physics, Mathematics, Programming Apps and Board Games.

Writing I do not consider a hobby. This is what I ultimately want to do for a full-time job, and I feel confident that I will get there. As I’ve said to my other fellow authors, who are just starting out, it takes patience. Everything requires work and honing one’s craft.

Why Did I Do This?

First, I really did this because I wanted you all to know who I really am. I believe that it is important to engage my friends, (I hate the term followers). I do no spend all night looking for people to follow. I tweet and if someone follows me, I’ll follow them back if it seems we’d be friends! I always respond to everyone who engages me, because I do not want to sit on some pedestal and have people adore me.

Second, I am what I write. I am not writing to become rich and famous. I doubt I could deal very well with fame, as I am a recluse, as I mentioned. If you know who I am, perhaps you’ll be more interested in the stuff I write, and more importantly, you’ll understand why I write the way I do.

Again, thank you for listening, and I am always interested in a good conversation, either here, on Facebook or on Twitter.

If you hit the Interview Menu at the top, you can listen or read about my other interviews.

First, Immortal Memories is just about ready for release. This is an ancillary book in the Waking Dream Series. It is a collection of nine short stories, across a variety of genres — paranormal romance, erotica, horror, folk-lore, alternate history, and occult. This has adult content in it, so it is meant for 18 and up because of the controversial aspects of the story “What Rough Beast”. This will be available in paperback and in eBook format.

Second, a friend of mine and I are also planning to release a Young Adult book for the Waking Dream Series called, “Getting to Devlin”. This story is about a young man named Zan who comes home from school one day to find his mother missing. After some exploration of his house, he finds a strange watch that seems to direct him to a place he’d never heard of and does not exist on any known map. This is an adventure tale to introduce young adults into the world of the Waking Dream.

I am working on my next horror serial to keep you entertained while I write the next book in the Waking Dream series “The Unkindness”. As you have probably guessed, I write quite a bit. The serial stories have not only been a joy to write, but I use them to improve my craft. By liking or commenting on my posts or stories, I know what people are interested in reading, and whether I am getting better at telling my strange and unusual tales.

Until next time — Make sure you DON’T read The Case Study. I’ve already had reports that people are becoming unstable as a result.

Jim McLeod posted “5 Minutes with Michael Hibbard” at his website. If you want to learn even more about me and the Waking Dream Series, take a gander at his site Ginger Nuts of Horror! In addition to my interview, he has interviewed many new and upcoming authors, and has everything one would need to know about the buzz in the horror and dark fiction industry.

Thanks Jim for taking the time to post the interview!

In other news, I will be interviewing with Elaine Charles of The Book Report Radio show, which will on October 27 between 3 and 4 P.M. EST. I am excited to be featured on this show alongside such amazing authors such as Orson Scott Card, Maya Angelou, and Mary Higgins Clark. You will be able to tune in live on the web via her website, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio or download the Podcast. I will be discussing the book, the Waking Dream universe and the philosophy behind the Waking Dream. If you want to keep up with developments on the event, you can register to attend on Facebook via this link.

Finally, I will be beginning my posts about the philosophy behind the Waking Dream, Mism, starting this week where we will discuss Creation of the Universe and Consciousness. You can find out more by reading the abstract.